Thursday, February 8, 2018

10,000 songs

I'm not a sucker for this book. 1,001 SONGS YOU MUST HEAR BEFORE YOU DIE (AND 10,001 YOU MUST DOWNLOAD) (2010/2013) struck me at first as a gimmick and a joke. All of those "before you die" books seem kind of silly -- your life is your own, live it your way, set your own goals.
But I was looking for something new about music to browse, and this book is HUGE. So I picked it up for a closer look.
One of the first things I saw was a write-up on Nick Drake's gorgeous "Northern Sky." Then they listed the Korgis' "Everybody's Got to Learn Sometime," which I have fond memories of. Then I noticed Ike and Tina Turner's "River Deep, Mountain High," which I'd just played on the stereo that morning....
So I flipped a few more pages. Love's "Alone Again Or." The Beach Boys' "Surf's Up." Fairport Convention's "She Moves Through the Fair" (which I'd never heard before). By then I was pretty much sold. At least these folks seemed to have a pretty good ear for the overlooked and off-the-wall.
I still think that. But a more detailed browse through these 960 pages shows that the compilers (50 of them, British, all people I've never heard of, including general editor Robert Dimery) are also suckers for one-shot pop trash. My life would be complete if I never hear songs like Toni Basil's "Mickey" ever again. And it gets a write-up in this book.
Even more than the page-long articles on each song considered "essential" by the compilers -- and these are always informative, even if you don't like the song -- the index including 9,000 more songs to download is a field-day of obvious and not-so-obvious choices, leading a fan to ask the obvious "But how could they NOT include...?" questions.
For example. How many Britney Spears songs do you really NEED to hear? I'd say none. The index lists six, including one that's "essential."
How many AC/DC songs do you really need to hear? I'd say maybe one. The index lists 15, including two the compilers feel are essential.
OK, Tom Petty. I'd say one, the index lists 10. And the one I'd choose ain't here. Neither are some other rather obvious choices.
But the format's interesting. If you had to sum up an artist's achievements by picking just one or two songs, which would you choose? There's an argument starter. And an idea for a post I may write soon....
You name 'em, they're in here, from Abba to Zappa, with the index alphabetized the way your computer or smartphone or iPod or whatever would do it -- with Zappa filed under "F" for Frank. The book runs the gamut from Enrico Caruso in 1916 to David Bowie in 2013. Nice to see Cab Calloway's hilarious "Minnie the Moocher" from 1931 in here.
And the sections that focus on the '60s and '70s are jammed full of classics -- I mean, the songs I know. There's plenty in here that I've never heard. There's a ton to learn.
But I also have to note that there's a real downturn in well-known, often-heard "classics" after the mid-1980s. Which may just indicate that this book wasn't meant for me.
But for all the information in it, and all the new directions it points me as a fan, I'll be holding onto it.
For that, I'll forgive that they included as essential "Ode to Billy Joe." "Unchained Melody." "Walk on By." "Superstar." "Rock On." "Desperado." "Sweet Home Alabama." "Dancing Queen." "Hotel California." "Do You Really Want to Hurt Me?" "Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)"....

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* WHAT HE MEANT: A TRIBUTE TO WRITER DON VINCENT.

* GUARANTEED GREAT MUSIC! -- a record-store memoir.

* RECORD STORE DAZE -- a playlist/companion to GUARANTEED GREAT MUSIC!

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* LISTEN TO THIS!: A GUIDE TO STRANGE MUSIC.

TAD's fave music-related non-fiction

BEFORE I GET OLD: THE STORY OF THE WHO -- Dave Marsh

BILLBOARD'S TOP POP SINGLES -- Joel Whitburn

CHRISTGAU'S CONSUMER GUIDE: THE '80s -- Robert Christgau

CHRISTGAU'S RECORD GUIDE: THE '70s -- Robert Christgau

ENGLAND'S DREAMING -- Jon Savage

IN THE COURT OF KING CRIMSON -- Sid Smith

King Crimson diary & scrapbooks -- compiled by Robert Fripp

LOOK! LISTEN! VIBRATE! SMILE! -- compiled by Dominic Priore

MAINLINES, BLOOD FEASTS AND BAD TASTE -- Lester Bangs

PSYCHOTIC REACTIONS AND CARBURETOR DUNG -- Lester Bangs

REVOLUTION IN THE HEAD -- Ian McDonald

ROLLING STONE MAGAZINE: THE UNCENSORED HISTORY -- Robert Draper

SAUCERFUL OF SECRETS -- Nicholas Schaffner

THE ALL MUSIC GUIDE TO ROCK

THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY -- Bill Bruford

THE BEACH BOYS -- Byron Preiss

THE BEACH BOYS AND THE CALIFORNIA MYTH -- David Leaf

THE HEART OF ROCK AND SOUL -- Dave Marsh

THE LONGEST COCKTAIL PARTY -- Richard DiLello

THE PENGUIN GUIDE TO JAZZ -- Richard Cook and Brian Morton

THE PENGUIN GUIDE TO POPULAR MUSIC -- edited by Donald Clarke

THE ROLLING STONE RECORD GUIDE -- edited by Dave Marsh & John Swenson

THE ROLLING STONE RECORD REVIEW VOLUME II

WALK AWAY RENE -- Hipgnosis/Storm Thorgerson

TAD's fave posts -- look 'em up!

"Back on the Chain Gang"

"If We Were Wise"

2 months on Match.com!

2 years in Turkey!

A look back at SMiLE

A really rude habit....

All SMiLEs

Boycott Black Friday!

Confessions of an Amazon.com addict

Dating After 50, Parts 1&2

Facing Dr. Pagan

First Girl I Loved

Guaranteed Great Music!

Musicmagic

My old Idaho home....

The best prog band ever?

The Boogie Monster and other adventures

The Good Olde Days...?

The Kids Are Alright....

The poster-child for stressing-out

The pot-smoker's runaround

The Singles Maven

The smallest Air Force base in the world

The Walkman at tech school

The worst Prom date EVER

Where are the laffs?

Wine, Women & Songs

TAD's fave rock&roll novels

Bruce Sterling: ZEITGEIST

Gael Baudino: GOSSAMER AXE

George R.R. Martin: THE ARMAGEDDON RAG

Jesse Sublett: ROCK CRITIC MURDERS

Lewis Shiner: GLIMPSES

Lewis Shiner: SAY GOODBYE

Nick Hornby: HIGH FIDELITY

Nick Hornby: JULIET NAKED

Roddy Doyle: THE COMMITMENTS

Tony Parsons: STORIES WE COULD TELL

Good Rock&Roll Short Stories

Alistair Reynolds: "At Budokan"

Edward Bryant: "Stone"

Gardner Dozois, Jack Dann and Michael Swanwick: "Touring"

Graham Masterton: "Voodoo Child"

Gregory Benford: "Doing Lennon"

Gregory Nicoll: "Dead Air"

John M. Ford: "Preflash"

Lewis Shiner: "Jeff Beck"

Lucius Shepard: "A Little Night Music"

Michael Swanwick: "The Feast of Saint Janis"

Norman Spinrad: "The Big Flash"

Robert Silverberg: "All the Way Up, All the Way Down"

William Gibson: "The Winter Market"

Favorite Novels Ever

Frank Herbert: DUNE

Frederik Pohl: GATEWAY

Gael Baudino: GOSSAMER AXE

George R.R. Martin: DYING OF THE LIGHT

John Brunner: STAND ON ZANZIBAR

Kathe Koja: SKIN

Kathe Koja: THE CIPHER

Lewis Shiner: GLIMPSES

Nick Hornby: JULIET NAKED

Ray Bradbury: THE MARTIAN CHRONICLES

Robert A. Heinlein: THE MOON IS A HARSH MISTRESS

Robert Silverberg: DOWNWARD TO THE EARTH

Robert Silverberg: DYING INSIDE

Robert Silverberg: THE BOOK OF SKULLS

Samuel R. Delany: EMPIRE STAR

Samuel R. Delany: THE EINSTEIN INTERSECTION

Favorite Albums of All Time (this week....)

Bangles: DIFFERENT LIGHT

Beach Boys: PET SOUNDS

Beach Boys: SMiLE SESSIONS

Beatles: ABBEY ROAD

Caravan: FOR GIRLS WHO GROW PLUMP IN THE NIGHT

Go-Go's: TALK SHOW

Group 87: (1ST)

Gryphon: RED QUEEN TO GRYPHON THREE

Gryphon: TREASON

Happy the Man: CRAFTY HANDS

Illusion: OUT OF THE MIST

King Crimson: THE GREAT DECEIVER/LIVE 1973-1974

King Crimson: THE YOUNG PERSON'S GUIDE TO...

Moody Blues: THE PRESENT

Nick Drake: BRYTER LAYTER

Pretenders: (1ST)

Providence: EVER SENSE THE DAWN

Renaissance: LIVE AT CARNEGIE HALL

Sky: SKY2

The Who: WHO'S NEXT

Yes: YESSONGS

You can say what you want....

"Nothing but the best, and later for the garbage." -- CHUCK BERRY

"I want the frighteningly original ALL the time." -- FRANK ZAPPA

"Writing about music is like dancing about architecture -- it's a really stupid thing to want to do." -- ELVIS COSTELLO

"If I have to choose between getting something done and just laying around, I'll choose laying around every time." -- ERIC CLAPTON

About this Blog....

This blog is a chance for me to rave about Strange Music, off-the-wall (usually music-related) books, current events, or whatever works me up enough to write about. This stuff is compulsive for me, so you never know what might appear here. Or what might send me into another of my ongoing Nostalgia Trips....

Bio stuff....

58. Former newspaper reporter & editor (20 years), frustrated fiction writer. 3 years of work in a record store -- a lifetime of listening. Been reviewing music, books & movies for newspapers since 1987. 2 children, both grown up. Spent last 13 years working in a convenience store/gas station in western Washington, USA.